the war on drugs - is it a trillion failure, plus al jazeera obtains emails between the n.s.a. and google that raise questions about a cosy relationship between the intelligence agency and major computer companies. could researchers have sfound a modern -- found a modern-day fountain of youth. >> a massive scandal at a powerful university - we are joined before the whistleblower testified on capitol hill. >> i'm antonio mora

. welcome to "consider this," here is more on what is ahead. responsibility. >> for what we is down for the united states, they have paid the price. >> other concern is about other interpreters, the ones in iraq and afghanistan. >> vampire affair. youth. >> studies show that the blood of young mice can make the cells of older mice younger again. >> growing up in the philippines, i always knew i was going to america. >> jose antonia vargas is a >>. >> i lived the american dream. i was living a lie. is the global war on drugs a lost cause of the united nations stated goal of a drug-free

world - is it a dream. five nobbel-prized winning economists and former secretary of state george schultz are a group of politicians and academics saying that, signing off on a report from the london school of economics calling for an end of the drug war and resources to be redirected to what they call effective policies. i'm joined from london by john collins, international drug policy coordinator at the london school of economics ideas center for the study of the international affairs. he is the editor of the school's expert groups report "ending the drug wars." good of you to join us. you write that international efforts to control drugs have been going on for more than a century. have they been a failure, have they slowed the flow and use of illegal drugs? >> it's a complicated question when we look over a century. over the last few sent ris they

have been a failure. they generated enormous international harm. we can't quantify what they have avoided in terms of what size the market would be ab sent controls. what we can quantify is the harms in terms of what current drug policies are doing, resulting in thousands of deaths, massive levels of incarceration, levels of violence, destroying economies and security in producer and transit countries and for little outcomes, drug prices are declining and purity rising. it is fair to say that the international drug control system is and has fail. >> you mentioned displacement. massive displacement along the border with the united states, more than 200,000 there and within columbia, there were more displaced syria.

>> yes, i think it's sued , but column -- sudan, but columbia outpaced them. drug violence has an enormous level of impact on these places. it has spillover effects for all aspects. people flee the violence, foreign investment dries up, corporations don't set up. economies go into decline. there are spillover consequences on pursuing the war on drugs. >> the call for a drug-free world became a rallying call in 1998. you say talking about a drug-free world is not just counterproductive. >> yes, it is not just talking about a drug-free world, but aiming towards something that is not achievable. it is not a rational goal to aim for a drug-free world. there's never been a truck free society. when you pursue a drug free world you spend an enormous amount of resources on something that is effective and harmful, at the expense of things that

are expensive and reduce the harms of drugs. we have a situation where things like marm reduction -- harm reduction at the international level. things that have an enormous body of evidence showing that they work and are effective are underfunded and some states won't mention them at the international level because of a derchens to the drug war, to the idea that eventually we'll achieve a drug-free world and shouldn't make accommodation with drugs. that's why it's an idea to talk in terms of a drug-free world. >> one of things the government focused on is the supply side in going after illegal drugs, by destroying poppy fields, cocaine and marijuana plantations, going after the drug cartels, would the war work better if governments focus on the demand side, drug users - of course, that led to what you talk about, mass i-incarceration. >> -- massive ipp cars rigs.

>> -- incarceration. >> my view - we should manage the drug issue as something that is prevalent in societies and be around. how do we minimize the harms. there's no evidence or case to be made that the war on drugs is the way to do that. whether it's going in and burning crops which has zero impact, or whether it's lacking a vast amount of drug users and warehousing them in gaols, which is highly detrimental to societies. neither of those courses has real merit. what we want to do is pursue an evidence based. public health based approach, and trying to minimize the impact of illicit market in producer and transit countries. instead of focussing on suppressing the flow and supply of drugs, which is chasing commodities around the world and the violence, you focus on minimising the violence, focus

on maximising security, human rites, public health. >> what about decriminalization. port call decriminal used drugs in 2001. the netherlands are well-known, colorado legalized marijuana, washington state is close behind. some argue that the portugal experiment is a success. now we see now reports of issues in colorado. >> now, the important thing here is to not conflate decriminalization. it's just removing the sanctions for individual drug users, and the evidence is in on this. it is clear that the benefits of criminalizing drug users has in no way been proven. the costs prove to be enormous, pushing people away from public health service, they create damage in people's lives, making it difficult for people to integrate in society.

decriminalization is the route for the community to go on this issue. they should not punish people who are addicted to drugs - that's not where resources are going, it's not an effective way to do this. legalization is a different matter. it's a long way from saying the war on drugs failed to legalize everything. definitely we are not advocating a head-long rush in that direction. legalization methods are a positive thing. they are happening in washington, colorado and uruguay. we learn a lot from what happens there. there's a lot of questions hanging over the experiments. we don't know what the outcomes will be. i would be certain that the outcomes would be less bad than the current war on drugs approach, because the cost is so clear and large. we want to do it in a correct way that minimises the growth in cannabis consumption.

we want to make sure it was a well regulated market. and it was too early to tell what happened in washington or uruguay for that matter. >> it's the beginning of drug poll suggests being looked at. we'll say on top of the story. google's motto is don't be evil. new documents may have people questioning how much it followed that. al jazeera obtained two sets of email changes showing they had a closer relationship with the n.s.a. than the company admitted to. it showed exchanges between n.s.a. director general keith alexander and google executives, sergay bryn and eric schmitt. revelations are surprising. >> our al jazeera journalist, jiften leopold, who obtained the emails, is with us. conventional wisdom is that the phone companies shared and the

tech giants did so when compelled by courts, acting as if they were bullied into it. the emails showed there was not much bullying. >> no, that's it right $. a year before the edward snowden revelations in those documents, here we see that google, apple, microsoft, dell, hewitt packard - they had all been involved in some aspect of information sharing with the n.s.a. >> many of the emails focussed on a project called enduring security framework, and it coordinates action between the government and industry leaders. i read that civil libertarians said that there needs to be information exchanges between major computer companies and the n.s.a. what happens here seems to have gone too far. >> it's not clear that it went too far. the reason it's not clear is

because much of the information revolving around the enduring security framework is classified. the briefings, meetings that have taken place, that n.s.a. director keith alexander articulates or discusses, take place in a classified setting. we don't know what is being discussed. the two sets of emails that we obtained show that, one, they wanted to discuss mobility, security and threats. there was another previous meeting that took place on software vulnerability issues relating to when you start up your personal computer, shedding light into what has been discussed previously. >> talking about threats. part of the process may have involved an alleged thwarted plot by china that the n.s.a. said could have destroyed the u.s. economy, and some question

whether the computer companies should work with n.s.a. to help with that security. >> there's two sides of it. on one hand you have, you know, some civil libertarians saying information sharing is essential. there's no guidelines on how the information sharing should take place. there's no transparency about it as well. we don't know to what extent, or what extent they have been sharing information, what type of information they have been sharing, how they is share the information and whether consumers information has been compromised as a result. >> one of the questions is whether in that context of possibly helping the companies, whether the n.s.a. could have companies. >> exactly. and in one email that's where we put the pieces toot. it -- together. it discusses what is revved to as a biosecurity threat, and

that is what i indicated about the - starting up your computer, and how it more or less you can - attackers can brick a computer. that is what the snowden documents revealed. that's what the n.s.a. were doing. they were hacking into the bios software, to the platform there, and exploiting it. exploiting the vul neribility yits that they then go to the -- vulnerabilities, that they then go to the tech firms. asking them to open the door to allow the n.s.a. in to address the issues. >> bricking the computers is useless. google is not commenting but said that they work with experts, including the government to stay ahead of the game. where do you think these partnerships will go from here. will they be more public. will theyor is there -- continue

or will there be a pull back because of this. >> i think the partnerships will continue. however, it's important to also note that there won't be transparency because of the revelations that we have made here. i made this freedom of the information act requests. i filed this. i wanted to find out what communications the n.s.a. had with the tech giants. so this was sort of the first release of documents that i received, showing what those communications were. so it really is going to take more foyer requests to find out the extent of how these conversations are continuing. >> great investigative work, raising questions. jason leopold good to have you with us. thanks for bringing this information to us.

>> i'm joe berlinger this is the system people want to believe that the justice system works. people wanna believe that prosecutors and police do the right thing. i think every american needs to be concerned about that. we do have the best justice system in the world, in theory... the problem is, it's run by human beings... human beings make mistakes... i'd like to think of this show as a watch dog about the system... to make sure justice is being served. wrongful convictions happen, we need to be vigilant. with our personal liberties taken away from us, it better be done the right way. is justice really for all?

thousands of afghans are waiting for visas they earnt working alongside u.s. forces. while they wait they live in fear. the state department ramped up the approval of these visas. many believe the government is not doing enough. that's why a senator with bipartisan support introduced new legislation to extend and

programme. >> i believe we have a responsibility to fulfil the obligation to thousands of civilians that risk their lives to help our country during the time of war. without an extension of the programme, our failure to help those that helped us remains a dark spot on our reputation abroad and hinder our ability to future. >> matt zeler joins us, the cofounder of no one left behind. he attended the event to introduce the afghan ally's extension act. this is his first time to join us, to discuss his fight to bring his interpreter and his family to the u.s. he joined us with him once he was granted a visa and arrived in the united states. great to see you again. this is a long fight for you.

janis saved your life, why has it been a struggle? >> it's been a struggle for a couple of reasons. the state department dropped the ball in implementing the programme. two, there was previous to the pictures that happened, there wasn't a lot of coordination going on between the state department and entities who did the security reskew. everyone that comes has to clear lee hurdles, they have to prove that because of that service they are under during es and pass a national security background investigation. frankly, for people doing the background investigation and people at the state department were not talking and we hope a lot of fixes implemented in a law that was placed and a number

this year will have a profound effect on the programme. in a positive way. that's the hope. >> one of your fellow veterans referred to this process as being kafka-esque and as a college grad he couldn't deal with the forms he was trying to deal with for his interpreter. according to the "new york times", there are 5,000 afghans deemed under threat. they are competing for 2300 visas, hundreds more are applying as we move along. fixed? >> yes. i don't know if the "the times" numbers are accurate, i would argue more are under duress and would qualify for a visa. it extents the programme. if the law doesn't pass and we fail to get it through, the programme does not exist as of september 30th. we have to get it through to

keep the programme going. it increases visas. it's a start. we'll probably have to do pore h it's something, better than nothing. it makes a number of legal clarifications. afghans like janice could not bring their extended family. the av significant law is different to iraqi. iraqis can bring mums, dads, brothers and sisters so long as they can prove their life is in danger. janis lives in a compound, living with his mum, brothers and sisters. because he no longer lives there doesn't mean their lives are not in daner. when the law pass, he'll bring his parents here. the other thing it does. this is weird. the state department things that any interpreter that works for

the international security assistance force isaf doesn't count as working for u.s. forces, which is kind of ridiculous, because the u.s. headed isaf. the law will declare that any working for isaf probably worked for u.s. forces and they get to come here. >> last time you were on, janis is on the show. how is he doing. >> believe it or not he forks congressman jim moran as an immigration officer. who better qualified to try to help fix the problem and programme, than somebody that went through it and experienced it first hand. >> you gave us a picture of then secretary of defense robert gates accompanied by his interpreter. he received a visa. when he came to the united states he was homeless in san francisco, what's happened to him. is anything being done to help interpreters and their families once they get to america?

>> it's a great question and my next fight. you mentioned we founded an organization, no one left behind. we used the money to help jappize resettle. that was jan. >> s request saying "brother, you raised all this money. i don't know what we can do with it, can we use it to resettle others." the gentleman that we show you a picture of. he found out about jan. >> s and i by watching one of your stories. when he made it to america and found himself in dire straits, he borrowed a phone, called kabul and said can someone put nee in fuch with janis, maybe they can get me to matt and they can help me out. we have helped out about 10 families, at least get apartments, with furnish them and jobs in a couple of days. there's nor that needs to be

done. i literally know of hundreds in the d.c. area that are former iraqian translators, don't have jobs, receive little support from the organizations that are supposed to help them here. we'll have to do better. as you pointed out. this is a tip of the iceberg, if the law passes and i'm confident it will. we'll be able to keep our promise to the majority of the afghans and iraqis, that we said if you gave us service and hep them out. we'll bring them back to the country. it that's the case, we'll be inundated to our allies, and we owe it to them to help them. >> it's an incredible mission, you have done incredible work. level of luck with the efforts. >> north korea is rattling what it calls its treasurured sword, nuclear sabre. reports say the country appears to prepare for a game-changing

fourth nuclear weapons test. a document leaked from china's army shows beijing is preparing for a north korean collapse. china calls the report groundless, it includes plans for holding north koreans in camps where they can be controlled and establishing more camps for refugees. last week beening warned -- beijing warned north korea it would by no moons allow war or chaos on our doorstep. i'm joined by gordon chang, a contributor writing on asia and the author of "nuclear showdown - north korea takes on the world." beijing does not seem happy with the north korean antics, and i don't mean to make light of another nuclear test. could beijing stop this if they wanted to get involve. >> i think it would be difficult. for the last two years the chinese have lost influence in the north korean

capital and dramatically ilstraighted by hashim thaci, the uncle of the north korea's leader. he was the leader looked to all the time. the other thing is we have to remember why the north koreans test. the important reason is they want a deterrent. yes, they want a deterrent against the united states and also against china. china and korea have been fighting for 600, 700 year. >> they are the only ally they have. >> the chinese keep north korea in business for china's interests, not north koreas. they figure if we get the chinese upset, it doesn't matter, because they'll give us aid, they'll continue to give us food and oil. so the nooe jps go out and do -- north koreans go out and do what they want because they know china won't punish them. what about the document showing shipa's preparations for a north

korean collapse. >> i think the chinese had contingency plans going back to when you had the great famine in north korea, and refugees going across the boarder. whether the document is real, i don't know if that is true. the point is china is looking at this because they understand the problems that north korea has, china. >> what about the timing of the leek. is it significant gip we looking at a fourth uk nuclear test. >> that is along the lines where i think, because the chinese want to slow the north koreans down, create second thoughts in the minds of the nooe jps. and one of the ways to do it is to leak through the japanese. it's americay, we won't -- unusualingy -- murky, we wouldn't know for some time. >> you mentioned kim jong un getting rid of his uncle.

they deposed the man who was currently believed to be the number woun, a former south korean national security advisor described kim as more reckless, more ruthless and more dangerous than his father. certainly kim jong-il was no preez. is this young guy worse? is it partially because of his ipp power. >> kim jong-il, his father set a high standard for bad behaviour. the problem is not so much the individual, it's the system. that system has incentives to act in ways that are dangerous and reckless and brutal. that's why we have seen, for instance, since the middle of 2010 a number of deaths unexplained, probably related to the success from kim jong-il to kim jong un. death is the way. >> is there dissent? >> there is. we see pumps that occurred -- purges that occur. when you have purges, things

have been settled in the regime. we know his uppingle had a -- uncle had a big network and kim jong un is setting out to eliminate that. sanctions in north korea - would that help. i don't know. korea. >> they have tonnes of money outside of north korea. they don't travel that much. when they do, they go to places we can't reach them, such as china. and the chinese made it clear that they are not going to enforce sanctions in a meaningful way. i don't think it will work. there are sanctions that would work, but not if you targeted the individuals. >> north korea may have the worst human rights record. >> may. >> okay, the atrocities in the camps are something not found anywhere else in the world.

last week it released a report that claimed the u.s.: . >> it goes on and on and on with all sorts of horror store anies about how -- stories about how terrible life is in the united states. will it play anywhere outside of north korea? >> maybe china, china issues reports luke that, not the same language, but that res jobates. else. >> it's insane for people to be putting it out there. meanwhile president obama and the president called for the president to scrap the nuclear weapons programme. there's a powerful article in bloomberg saying it's not kim jong un that is insame, about the president obama and others asking for the same thing result. >> what do we have to do in order to somehow protect regime. >> there are a couple of things

we can do. one is dropping the heavy word on the chinese. north korea is able to do all these things with beijing's help. if we sanction banks. it's important to do that. we need to sanction chinese banks that participate. if we do that, it would get beijing's attention. there are things we can do, but are not willing to do. >> it's a terrible situation. let's see what they do with the nuclear weapons and the test. good to have you with us. >> good to see you.

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with immigration reform stalled in congress, there were more announced this week, including allowing immigrants to work in the u.s.

the issue is deeply personal for our next guest, a pulitzer prize winner who outed himself as an undocumented immigrant. >> immigration is stories, here is my story. my grandparents legally immigrated from the philippines in the mid 1980s. my grandfather decided to get his grandson come to america. one morning a suitcase was packed. i was 12. i spent 18 years since i have seen my mother. so i'm launching a campaign about what it means to be american and the fact i am american. there are 11 million undocumented people. >> in 2010 undocumented people paid $211 million if tax. >> from nigeria. >> from brazil. >> we mow your lawn, work at your houses, maybe we are your doctors or nurses.

we are not who you think we are. >> antonio varg es is the subject of the document and wrote and directed and produced the film. he joins us in los angeles, and it's opening in select cities. in june of 2011 you wrote a piece in the "new york times" magazine telling your story. you are a pulitzer prize-winning journalists, you didn't have to go public. lawyers said it was political suicide. why did you do it. >> i did it because with great privilege comes responsibility. you know, not everyone can publish a 4,000 word esain the "new york times" ---esta in the "new york times" admitting to everything. i people like what is lacking with the issue is honesty, from undocumented people and from our leaders. so for me, the piece, the essay

was about asking the question of how do you define america and elgait and take it out of the u.s.-mexican border security illegal framework. >> this had consequences. your driver's licence was taken away when you went public. >> yes. >> getting a licence in the first place was how you found out you were undocumented. >> yes. this was in 1997. i had been in this country for four years at that time. like any 16-year-old i went to the dmb to get a driver's permit. and that's when i found out the green card my grandfather gave me was fake. there was no google or youtube. i thought i must have been the only non-latino, non-mexican who was illegal because at that point the media told us that undocumented. >> how did you get the licence? >> when i had to get a licence

was when "the washington post" afterward me an internship and the woman said i cannot show up in d.c. without a driver's licence. i researched it and figured out there were two states that allowed undocumented people to get driver's licences and one was oregon. i went to oregon and got the licence. it had a 10 years - expiration was 10 years it was valid. so i was actually allowed to - that's how i was able to travel the country was because of that licence. let me remember, it's item years, not 10 years. >> i know you paid your taxes, what did the driver's licence allow you to do - it allowed you to work. >> you know, in post 9/11 america, how do you fly out id. it was my only piece of legally acceptable identification. is there anything more american than driving, by the way?

that's why, right now, i'm happy that california, washington d.c., you know, a few other states actually are allowing undocumented people in their state to drive. suite. >> you have done extensive working focus said on defining what america is. what conclusion did you come to? >> look, what is really lacking in the issue is a sense of history. so during the potato famine in ireland, when countless irish people basically crossed the border that was the atlantic ocean and landed on ellis island without papers, they didn't ask for permission, she showed up. did we call them criminal? there was a lot of discrimination against irish and italians when they showed up. i think now what makes it a little more complicated is the

undocumented immigrants are mostly filipino and earns, we are not white. the idea of how we define what an american is, what are the limits of war. immigration is not a black and white thing. what i really found is that the american public has - there's a huge misunderstanding, and a lack of information when it comes to this issue. >> what is the rehabilitation from the federal government. have you heard whether you'll deported? >> there's a seen in the film. i outed in june 2011 and waited for someone to contact me. i ended up convincing the editor the time warner magga -- "time" magazine about why i hadn't been deported. i called ice and said "i haven't heard from you are you planning to deport me", they said they

couldn't comment. they know who i am but can't comment. it's a metaphor for how the american public thinks of the undocumented people. you all know we are here, right. what do you want do with us? >> a lot of discussion about what that will be. quickly, one final thing that i have to bring up. you haven't seen your mum, now it's more than two decades. >> 21 years this august. >> and you got meet her again. >> that's the most real part. the film goes where i can't, to the philippines, to document her. she and i meet on film. this is the reality of a broken immigration system. there are countless families broken and torn apart. she can't come here, i can't leave, because there's no guarantee i would be allowed back. we meet op film. >> in an emotional way. thank you for your time. >> thank you for having me. >> it's documented.

the whistleblower in a sports scandal paid a major price. academic advisor, mary willing ham went public with findings on the school's ath lettic findings finding 60% of the athletes read between a fourth and 8th agreed level. 10% were functionally illiterate. some had easy as in classes requiring minimal work. she alleges it was a scam to keep up grade point so they could be eligible to play sport. she left the school on tuesday and is headed to congress to testify. she joins us from washington dvc. let's start with what you found. athletes were enrolling in the paper classes where they didn't have to show up for the classes and only had to turn in a paper and were getting as

classes. >> we had a paper class system it in existence for many years, two decades, and it was primarily set up for the purpose of athletic eligibility, started in the basketball programme, and then was used heavily by football players as time went on. it was part of that system between 2003 and 2010. i'm familiar with the way we eligible. >> the university responded saying three independent experts conducted a review of research and found some flaws, but other found. >> yes, well, while i was there, i did some screening along with an educational psychologists on many players who were coming to us as special atmitts or talents to see what learning disabilities or attention deficit, and what levels they were reading, writing and what

their maths skills were like. i found the sample space over a period of time. you know, we had - i think we have across the country in d1 athletics, we admitted many underprepared athletes to the programme. if we do that. we have to cheat, because you can't do college level work up here, when you are only really academically report for work at this level. there's too big a gap. the whole thing is a farce. >> tony is pushing for an investigation at the n.c.a.a. because of this. do you think that it is a systematic problem, that it is happening in a lot of lems, to the extent that you saw in u.n.c. >> i think so. i have over 3,000, closer to 4,000 emails from people across the country since i spoke out publicly and people are so afraid of the n.c.a.a. cartel, afraid of the fans who sent death threats, hate mail and are bashing me on, you know, inside

carolina and a member of the athletic department is going on the radio and talking about me. the truth is that we have all these young athletes that we watch on game day, throughout the week, during two different seasons, basketball and football and clem sports and they are not getting what we promised them. that's a real education. it's time to stop. we need to do the right thing. >> the former governor of north carolina found problems with dozens of courses, grade changes, some with fraudulent signatures. most in the universities, afro-african department. the head has been indicted. the university trying to say that they were rogue employees. >> that's right. they have thrown a few individuals under the bus, including myself, a tutor, and then julyious nangoro and debbie and the african-american studies

department has been tainted. it was the culture of the university for almost two decades, and everyone new. advisors in the college of arts and sciences new, the deans knew, and we won't admit the truth, we can't admit the truth. it's a pandora's box. >> what happened to you when you wept public. university? >> it was a hostile work environment. i was demoted last june and moved to a basement office - of course, that's what they do to whistleblowers, and i brought my stapler. i was asked to do advising in the afternoon, so i wouldn't be allowed to go to meetings. it was a typical - they wanted me to leave. i promised many students i worked with this past year and semester that i would stay until they graduate. it's saturday. i'll be at graduation, and it was time to go because i really,

really want to see the n.c.a.a. dismantled and we need to start system. >> i know you are testifying before congress, i hope you keep us abreast of what is going on and we look forward to having you back on the show to talk more about this.

today's data dive looks at questionable uses about power. new york congressman michael grim said his internal polls show him heading had been election fight, despite a 20-count federal indictment - mail fraud, false tax returns.

>> in january he famously threatened a tv reporter who asked him about the case. >>: . >> while michael grimm's case is pending, corruption is old. a study found chicago is the most corrupt city with the most public corrupt convictions. new york is the most corrupt state with california, illinois, florida and pennsylvania rounding out the worst five. all are popular state with a large number of public officials, and that skews the numbers. the story is different when you look at business insiders breakdown. then new york isn't in the top 20, louisiana was the easy winner or loser with nine convictions of public officials for every 100,000 people.

it's followed by north and south dakota. in a study including territories. washington d.c. and the virgin islands and gaum were corrupt. >> a look at a survey with dismal results. it focused on ethics and dislornal laws. on our map, yellow is level, red is worst, and new jersey had the highest b plus. eight states with an f. west virginia with a d plus. an example there is former governor borrowed an olds mobile for a test drive. it lasted four years. then he awarded the dealer 2.7 million contract. >> to quote ronald reagan, politics is the second oldest possession. i have learnt it bore a resemblance to the first.

>> these protestors have decided that today they will be arrested >> these people have chased a president from power, they've torn down a state... >> what's clear is that people don't just need protection, they need assistance. vé

as a person >> talk to al jazeera only on al jazeera america did dracula have it rite? he feasted on the blood of others and it kept hick vibrant. researchers at harvard and stamford found aging mice could be infused from younger mice and it recharged brain and muscle, improving learning. the doctor was involved in studies published in science journal. she a professor of stem cell and joins us from watertown massachusetts. exciting stuff.

can you explain the basics of the experiment with mice, and what you found. >> sure, i would be happy to. we were searching for substances that are in the blood stream and might affect the ability of tissues to maintain or repair themselves. we found a protein, gd f11 and is abundant in the blood of young animals. along with muscle wasting, weakness, decreased activity in the brain and defects in the cardiac muscle, and we found when we added the protein back, we could reverse the effects of ageing and restore healthy function in the tissues. >> you think the protein activates stem cells that exist in older mice and that creates this effect.

>> yes, we saw that tds 11, in the bloodstreams of older mice, impressed the functioning of stem cells in the brip. it translated into a robust capacity of the brain and the skeletal muscle. >> i saw a quote that was striking saying "it doesn't slow clock." >> it looks like we are able, by adding back the protein that is lost with age to restore some of the muscle. it's important to understand that we don't know that this is a reversal of the processes that brought the cells to this state, but it restores function that you see in youth. >> how translatable are the results in mice - could they be for humans?

>> we are excited about the possibility of translating this to humans. the protein is identical between mice and humans, and is present in the bloodstream of humans. we are actively working to understand more specifically its regulation in humans, and how we might apply it to human ageing-related diseases. the fact that you isolate it, could it be conceivably, if it works in humans, could it be taken in the form of a pill or transfusion? >> so it probably wouldn't be taken in the form of a pill, and we don't think we'll go forward with blood transfusions with our work. we have a protein that we are interested in understanding how it's regulated. i think we'll be able to figure it out over the next three years, leading us to better options to target this so we can, for instance, increase the body's production of protein

or target the effects of this protein more specifically. >> what time frame do you think humans. >> it's difficult to predict these things. it's reasonable to expect at least the first clinical trials building on the results that we reported here, within the next five years. >> could it be that the most popular way to look at it is a fountain of youth for humans in i think of it assist a way to maintain healthy function and aging. we are focussing not so much on life span, but extending the years that the body functions well. >> are you concerned in some way the protein

could cause rehabilitation in triggering stem cells? >> we think about these things, especially when we manipulate regeneration. >> so far we haven't seep effects and haven't seen increase in the incidents of cancer in the older animals. so far we have treated animals to 60 days, and we want to look question. >> it will be incredible if this is something that works in humans. it's a fascinating study. dr aimie waigers, it's a pleasure to have you with us. thank you for sharing your thoughts. >> thank you the show may be over but the consider continues on the website, facebook -- conversation conditions on facebook or google+. see you next time.

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